NSW Environment Protection Authority

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has been notified by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the discovery of ball-shaped debris on 1080 Beach and Pooles Beach at Mystery Bay near Narooma on the South Coast.  

The balls are reported to be spread across 200 metres of the beach and vary in size and shape. 

Staff from NPWS attended the site on 11 December and inspected nearby beaches. Around 20 debris balls were also found at Pooles Beach however, there were none observed on any other nearby beaches.  

Both 1080 Beach and Pooles Beach have been closed while NPWS staff undertake clean-up. Signs have been put in place to advise visitors of the contamination.  

Officers from the EPA also attended the beaches today and collected samples for analysis. Over the coming days, NPWS will continue to monitor beaches in the Mystery Bay area.  

The EPA has finalised testing on ball-shaped debris that washed up on beaches in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs in October, confirming earlier results that indicate their origin is likely a source that releases mixed waste. 

Experts could not determine where the balls originated from as no source samples were available for comparison.   

The EPA is awaiting results of testing on debris balls which washed up in Kiama in November and Silver Beach at Kurnell earlier this month.